Inc Gates also calls this question one of his measures of success in life.
So what’s your measure for success? How will you know when you reached it? For Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, you might be surprised to know that the importance of personal relationships is a critical measure of his success.
Gates asks himself a few simple questions to measure his success in life and work at the end of each year. One of them is, “Did I develop new friendships and deepen old ones?”
At a time when the U.S. workforce has been brought to its knees by the coronavirus outbreak, and as people are now required to socially distance, I am finding an increasing need among virtual human tribes to search for connection and belonging.
We now huddle over the glow of our laptops in Zoom chats to cope with our emotional states of fear, stress, and anxiety by discovering new friendships and rekindling old ones.
Truth is, we are wired at our core for seeking friendship, support, and connection in times of peace and normalcy, and especially in times of war and crisis.
Besties Bill Gates and Warren Buffett
For Bill Gates, it’s public knowledge that Warren Buffett has been a close friend and major influence. In fact, Buffett might have played a role in influencing this “measure of success” question.
In a 2017 Reddit Ask Me Anything session, Gates replied to the question, “What is your idea of success?” by citing his friend: “Warren Buffett has always said the greatest measure is whether the people close to you are happy and love you.”
And, in a 2016 blog post, Gates said, “I’ve learned many things from Warren over the last 25 years, but maybe the most important thing is what friendship is all about. It’s about being the kind of friend you wish you had yourself.”
The impact of friendships on health
It makes totally sense as to why Bill Gates calls friendship one of his success factors. When it comes to your health and well-being, friendships are crucial to help prevent loneliness and isolation. According to Mayo Clinic, having friends will boost your happiness, reduce your stress, and improve your self-confidence and self-worth.
And who can forget the often-referenced Harvard longitudinal study on the valuable benefits of cultivating deep relationships? Started in 1938, researchers tracked the health of 724 men hoping to find clues to leading healthy and happy lives.
As reported in The Harvard Gazette in 2017, here’s what the study revealed:
Close relationships, more than money or fame, are what keep people happy throughout their lives. Those ties protect people from life’s discontents, help to delay mental and physical decline, and are better predictors of long and happy lives than social class, IQ, or even genes.
Bill Gates is not a dumb person. He knew this. His question, “Did I develop new friendships and deepen old ones?” should be a new measure of success for all leaders and entrepreneurs alike. If it has worked for Gates, it will work for you.